Tuesday, March 19, 2013

DeLoach is where we had pre-arranged for a private local-cheese tasting paired with select wines. Fancy-fancy! Melissa tends not to enjoy reds, but Tress and I were in heaven--and Melissa did love the cheese.

On the way back to the hotel, we passed this little electric-car business. Why don't we have these in Massachusetts?

We stopped at Murphy-Goode and another winery, outside which lovely foliage was observed:

Then we proceeded to Mateo's, a Mexican cantina. Holy moly, what a fantastic lunch. I'll post Melissa's pictures of the food at another moment--note that I had demolished my plate before I even thought to take a picture! I wouldn't run the picture (my near-empty plate isn't pretty), but I want to draw attention to the beverage at top left.

I am not a tequila gal, but that drink was amazing with its tequila and RADISHES. No kidding. The full ingredients are below but pretty much illegible, sorry.

After the meal, the bill was delivered in a hollowed-out book. How cool is that?

The day after Muir and Bodega, we returned to the vineyards. This time we toured Sonoma. First stop: Foppiano. The wine wasn't amazing (the only wine this trip that all three of us loved was a white from Jessup Cellars), but a tree there grabbed my attention.

Look at the cork! It's the first time I have seen it as bark and not pre-cut as a bottle stopper.

In November, when last I blogged, I and my friends Tress and Melissa were in the wine country. The day we went to the Muir Woods was also the day of the Bird Incident. But first: we saw seals. Melissa's reaction was both priceless and too profane to print--she loves seals (which are distant lumps in this pic).

I have detailed the Bird Incident elsewhere in the blog. Here is an image from Bodega Bay, looking out the window of a mediocre restaurant at an egret, and one, very dark, from the town of Bodega. We are standing next to an inflatable Hitchcock. That place was creepy, and after our time there Tress predicted that something bad was going to happen. Presto, bird strike.

I am in a position, once more, of seeking a behavioral assessment job. I mean, I did get one, it's great, it pays $42 an hour! But a) it's fee for service, b) it doesn't begin for a month, and c) the availability of hours will be governed by others. So I'd love to find something steady, but not full time, as a supplement.

Why am I looking again? My place of employment still values me and has me working (also fee for service) out of the office. But I resigned due to a change that I found intolerable. I was exhausted and unwilling to go along with a plan to squeeze out even more blood.

Also, for all of the past year, I've been aware that I need more practice hours as a behaviorist. This year, the law changed so that, if I don't get started right away, I'll need 5 years' worth of hours to sit for the certification exam. I'll also need 15 more credit hours. No, no, no! If I can get started NOW, then the exam is within my grasp in 2014.